


Hold My Hand

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [15]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Concussions, Doctors & Physicians, Gen, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Needles, Non-Sexual Age Play, Tony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs Father-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 06:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15768615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: Follow-up toEyes Open. Tony needs to be cleared by a doctor to return to the field, but he hates the doctor's office. What is Gibbs to do?





	Hold My Hand

"I don't wanna," Tony said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

Gibbs massaged his temples and let out a sigh. He was by now used to Tony getting stubborn over things that Gibbs saw as random and without reason, but he failed to see why  _this_  was what Tony was putting his foot down over. "Tony, it's a check-up at the doctor's. It's not even a dentist! And you need to take your physical if you want to get cleared for the field again."

But Tony's pout was clear; he would not be swayed, not this time. "It's just a concussion!" he protested. "Why do I need a physical?!"

"Because that concussion rendered you unconscious for about an hour, landing you in the hospital!" Gibbs said. That had to be just about the scariest hour of his life after Shannon and Kelly. He didn't want to lose another one of his kids, and the doctors had said it was a miracle Tony hadn't slipped into a coma. He had yet to tell Tony this, of course, because he didn't want to scare the boy. But it was clear that he needed the physical to be cleared for the field again. "Look, Tony, I have to take you there, so I'll be in your check-up room at the first sign of trouble, all right? I'm not leaving you out to dry here!"

Tony looked away, resolve wavering. "I know," he said softly. "But I still don't wanna."

"No one  _wants_  to go to the doctor," Gibbs said. "But you'll be fine, provided you behave."

Tony continued to pout, but at least he wasn't complaining anymore as Gibbs helped him get dressed for going out. He wasn't exactly being helpful, but Gibbs managed to get him into a polo, boxers, and jeans. "Now remember, you do have to keep track of whether or not you need to go to the bathroom in those," Gibbs pointed out.

"I know," Tony said. He looked closer to sulking than pouting now, and Gibbs sighed.

"You don't want to be big, I know, baby boy, but you only have to fake it at the doctor's office, and then we have the rest of the day and the weekend for you to be little before you have to go to work again," he persuaded.

Tony looked at him with a mix of sadness and betrayal, but nodded all the same. "Okay, Papa."

Gibbs gave Tony an encouraging smile, offering his hand out for Tony to take. And that's how they walked out of the house, hand in hand, Gibbs silently praying that Tony would behave at the doctor's office.

Of course, Gibbs shouldn't have set his hopes so high. Tony squirming in the car should have been proof enough that this wasn't going to be easy; but the day was young and Gibbs was unafraid...Tony, on the other hand, was terrified. As evidenced by the fact that he wasn't leaving his seat when Gibbs pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. He walked around the side and bit back a sigh when Tony made no move to get out. "Tony--" he started.

"No," Tony said, shaking his head. "I changed my mind."

Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose. Why could this never be easy? "Tony, please get out of the car."

Tony just glared at him. Gibbs resisted the urge to punch something and rolled his eyes instead. "For someone who claims to be fearless, baby boy, you certainly have a lot of random fears."

"Not fearless," Tony said, though it was muffled through the glass and Gibbs could barely make it out.

"No kidding?" Gibbs asked, opening the door. Tony still didn't get out. Gibbs sighed. "Sweetheart, you have to get out. You know you have to. I thought we'd been over this already."

Tony looked up at Gibbs with the puppy dog eyes Gibbs was always weak for. But he wasn't backing down this time. "Tony. Do you want to go back to work?"

Reluctantly, Tony nodded.

"Well, you're gonna have to do this if you want that." Gibbs felt bad as Tony looked at him with betrayal, but he had to stand firm. He offered his hand. "Come on, I won't let anything happen. You  _know_  I won't. Hold my hand, I've got you."

Tony sighed and took Gibbs' hand. Gibbs helped him out of the car and closed the door, leading him to the doctor's office. Neither of them liked it. There were rows of chairs, and a woman sitting behind the front desk with a clipboard. Gibbs was glad Tony had an early appointment, as there were only two other people in the room: a man who was loudly coughing into a tissue, and a girl who looked to be fresh out of college reading a magazine. Gibbs had no doubt that later today, the place would be horribly busy and crowded, sick people everywhere.

The place reeked of antiseptic and Tony sneezed the second they were inside. Gibbs shook his head slightly and sighed. "Go sign in, Tony. Remember, I'm right here if you need me."

Tony nodded and Gibbs took a seat by the door. He kept an ear on Tony's conversation with the receptionist, but Tony was an excellent actor, and if Gibbs hadn't known this was Tony, rather than DiNozzo, he wouldn't have believed anyone telling him that this was his boy and not his agent.

When Tony came over and sat next to Gibbs, Gibbs rested one of his hands on Tony's. "You're doing great," he soothed. "The worst of this is almost over."

Tony shook his head and shuddered. "What if...what if they need to use needles?"

Gibbs felt a little bit of shock. "You're...scared of needles?"

Tony flushed and nodded.

Why didn't Gibbs know this?! He silently berated himself even as he tried to calm Tony down. "Just tell the doctor if he needs any blood work. He can do that sort of stuff when you're not looking, and can tell you when it's safe to look again. Lots of people have that fear, even as adults. This won't be the first time the doctor's heard that, and he'll know what to do. But I doubt that'll come up. They're just doing a routine physical, not testing your blood sugar or cholesterol, or even checking for stuff in your blood at all."

"Promise?" Tony asked anxiously.

Gibbs felt a little nervous at that; he couldn't technically promise that since he wasn't Tony's doctor. "Tell you what: if I'm wrong, I'll let you pick out a tub of ice cream on the way home, your choice of flavor."

Tony was pleased enough with the deflection, though, as he nodded and sat still for a full minute of waiting. And within the next minute, he was called back to the examination rooms. He looked at Gibbs, panicked for a second, before Gibbs squeezed his hand. Tony nodded and stood up, following the nurse out of the room. "You two are cute together," the girl said from where she was sitting.

Gibbs frowned. "Sorry?"

"You and that guy...Tony? You look cute together," she said simply.

Gibbs felt his cheeks heat up at those implications and he tried to keep his emotions in check. He was flustered; not because he felt anything towards Tony but because that implied that there  _was_  something there when all he felt was paternal love. "Oh, no, miss, we're not together," Gibbs said. "I'm actually his father."

"Oh!" the girl said, blushing herself. "I'm sorry. You're just very affectionate so I assumed...I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Gibbs assured. "My son just needs a support system more than most, and right now I'm the only one available to help him. I can see why you thought that."

The girl nodded and went back to her magazine, still red in the face. Gibbs shrugged off her comment, reasoning that anyone could make that mistake, especially when they didn't know who Gibbs and Tony both were. And two grown men holding hands and being affectionate was rare, even if they were family. Gibbs didn't mind what people thought, but he knew Tony would, so he would always set the record straight if he needed to. In Tony's words, that's what papas were for.

Gibbs sat patiently in the waiting room for about fifteen minutes, before he shifted in his seat. He knew the doctor could just be taking a little while to get to Tony's room, but what if something had gone wrong? What if they actually  _did_  need to draw blood and Tony was freaking out alone? So many scenarios started racing through Gibbs' head, none of them good. He checked the clock, hoping that his face was still impassive.

The girl was called back, and then the coughing man, but there was still no sign of Tony. Gibbs shifted in his seat and he scowled. Another five minutes and he'd ask the receptionist what was going on. Four minutes and thirty seconds into the wait, just as Gibbs was formulating what to say to the receptionist that wouldn't come out as a yell, Tony came out, nodding along to whatever his doctor was saying. The doctor handed him a slip of paper, Tony said, "Thanks, Doc," and he walked right over to Gibbs.

"Well?" Gibbs asked.

Tony proudly held up the sheet. "Cleared for duty, and they didn't even need a blood sample!"

"See? I told you," Gibbs said. "Ready to get out?"

Tony nodded. "Ever since we got here," he said.

"Really? Never would have guessed," Gibbs teased, holding out his hand to Tony, who gladly took it.

As they walked out back to the car, Tony glanced at him. "Papa?" he asked.

"Yeah, Tony?" Gibbs asked back, looking him over.

"Can we still get that ice cream, even though the doctor didn't take my blood?" Tony asked hopefully. "Maybe we both could pick the flavor?"

Gibbs laughed. "Maybe we won't get ice cream, but would ice pops work?"

Tony scrunched up his face. "Who calls popsicles 'ice pops'?" he asked.

"That's their official name, Popsicle is actually a trademarked brand," Gibbs said.

Tony's eyes widened. "Why?"

"You know, I'm not sure. Maybe we can look it up at some point," Gibbs proposed.

"Sure!" Tony agreed. "Figuring out that sort of thing is fun!"

"That it is," Gibbs said.

Tony went quiet and said, "...Papa?"

"Yeah?"

"How...how bad did I hit my head?" Tony asked. "All the doctors and nurses in the hospital seemed surprised I was awake. How hard did I hit it?"

"Well, it wasn't really you who hit it, our suspect took a brick and smashed it in two on your skull," Gibbs said. "But the doctors were surprised you didn't slip into a coma. You were unconscious for at least an hour, which you already know. So...it got hit pretty hard."

Tony nodded and took that information in. "The doc gave me a clean bill of health, though," Tony informed him. "So you know you don't have to worry, right?"

Gibbs was a little shocked Tony had picked up on that. He was pretty good at hiding emotions he didn't want showing, and the fact that Tony saw that when no one else did...it spoke volumes for Tony's investigative skills. "I know. Papa worries sometimes anyway, because I'm funny like that."

"And because I run into danger head-first with reckless abandon?" Tony asked, laughing.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at his own words being thrown back in his face. "Yeah. That too."

"When I'm scared or worried or anything, Papa...you let me hold your hand," Tony said. "If you get scared you can do the same with me, okay? I can help."

Gibbs couldn't hide the smile that came to his face at Tony's simple but profound offer. "Thanks, Tony. That means a lot."

He doubted that Tony knew exactly how much that meant to Gibbs, because Gibbs himself couldn't articulate how much it meant to him. But he knew that Tony at least knew the love between the two of them was mutual, and that was all Gibbs could ask for. "So what flavor of Popsicle...I mean  _ice pop_ , should we get?" Tony asked as they got into the car.

"I don't know," Gibbs said. "What flavors do you like?"

As Tony started rattling off flavors, Gibbs smiled to himself. This was going to be a pretty domestic weekend, but he wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
